As the number and abilities of networked devices increases, the benefit from harnessing the output of such devices also increases. Nodes on a network may have the ability to run one or more applications on a multi-tasking operating system, and to communicate with other nodes on the network. However, many networked nodes may have legally or fiscally relevant functionality—such as utility meters measuring resource consumption. Such nodes may be unable to fully utilize their computational ability due to the risk of compromising their legally or fiscally relevant functionality. Thus, while considerable network resources are theoretically available, legal, monitory, security, network-integrity and/or other considerations may prevent their exploitation.